The Accursed — Courtney Cantrell

I am Elfled, and I am Accursed. Imagine living in a world where magic is everywhere. You are surrounded by those Blessed to manipulate the fundamental creative and destructive powers of the universe…yet you have no such power. Even your family is Blessed, some of them with enough power to join the ranks of the Sacred Halls' clerics. This is the unBlessed – yet simple and happy – life of Elfled Gardail. But when Elfled's parents are outed as political dissidents, the entire Gardail family must flee the pogrom of Mad Shaddix, iron-fisted head cleric of the Sacred Halls. A clandestine network of fellow subversives is meant to shepherd them to a friendly neighboring nation, but that web proves too fragile and the fugitives are torn from one another. With shifting alliances and dwindling options, Elfled finds her lack of Blessing has turned into a curse, ensnaring her in betrayal and violence. Elfled the Accursed no longer dreams of safety. Now, she fights only for survival.